E a r l y S t a r t G e r m a n Pa c k 1
3. Wie geht's? How are you? This section gives pupils their first opportunity to have a real conversation in German. It enables them to ask someone how they are and to respond to the question in a variety of ways. They will also find out about the place of the River Rhine in German history, including the famous legend of the "Lorelei".
DVD / VIDEO: Film 3 Marsha greets the viewers: “Hallo! Wie geht's?” The river Rhine and Lorelei rock: The film begins with views of the Rhine to set the scene. The boat approaches the Lorelei rock which towers over the river.
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
wie geht's? -
{how are you? {how's it going?
es geht - OK gut, danke!- good, thanks / I'm well sehr gut! - very good/well
Scene from film 3: tourist boat on the River Rhine.
Lorelei cartoon sequence Two little sailors are on the river: Sailor 1 asks: “Wie geht's?” Sailor 2 replies: “Es geht.” Sailor 2 carries on his journey. The Lorelei, is sitting on her rock and combing her hair: Lorelei calls: “Hallo! Wie geht's?” Sailor 2 replies: “Danke, gut!”
nicht so gut! - not good /well ...und dir? - ...and you? Audio CD Track 27
HOW GERMAN WORKS 1: Asking “How are you?” Any child meeting someone in Germany is likely to be asked “Wie geht's?”, which is short for: “Wie geht es dir?” - literally: “How goes it with you?” This simple phrase asks someone: ...how are you? ...how are things going? ...how do you feel? ...how are you getting on? As in English, you could just ask: “How goes it?” - “Wie geht es?” “Und dir?” is a simple way of reflecting the question back to the person who asked it. A word of caution - there are several words for “you” in German. You use “und dir?” in this context. Starting in the next chapter, children will meet other instances where you say: “und du?” - see Ch.1.4 for more.
Scene from film 3: Lorelei - "Hallo! Wie geht's?"
The sailor is so smitten by the beautiful Lorelei, that he is not looking where he is going! The Lorelei calls to him again: Lorelei: "Wie geht's?" Sailor 2: "Nicht so gut!" (His boat has crashed into the rocks!) 32
1.3 Wie geht's? But this version has a happy ending: sailor and Lorelei fall in love and live happily ever after! Lorelei: "Wie geht's?" Sailor 2: "Sehr gut, danke!"
One of the children, Marsha, then rounds off the video section by talking directly to the pupils watching - “...und wie geht es dir?”
KEY SOUNDS Listen to the sounds of...
“ ” as in wie Heard before in:
auf Wiedersehen
“ ”(ch) as in nicht (listen to the cartoon sailor )
“ ” as in gut
Scene from film 3: Claudia -"Wie geht's?"
Heard before in:
Visitors arriving: Claudia opens the door to Oliver and father: Detlef (Father): “Guten Tag!” Claudia: “Hallo!” Detlef: “Wie geht's?” Claudia: “Gut, und wie geht es dir?” Detlef: "Gut, danke!" Claudia: “Hallo Oliver! Wie geht's dir denn?” (How are you then?) Oliver: "Gut, danke!" Claudia: "Komm herein!" (Come in)
guten Tag
(Listen to the native speakers try to copy these typically German sounds) Audio CD Track 27
Planning your lessons There are now three sets of words and phrases to use in activities. Games with ‘Key sounds’ can be extended. We suggest children make puppets which often help make them less self-conscious about speaking with an authentic accent.
NOTE: This short sequence includes a little extended language for "gisting". Pupils will be able to follow what is happening by looking at the pictures.
Activities
SONG: “Hallo! Wie geht's?” (The words and
music can be found at the end of this chapter). During the song we see examples of people asking "Wie geht's?" when out in the streets.
1. Warm up ❑ Before watching film 3, have a brief “warm up” session to remind pupils of the German words and phrases they already know - many of which are revisited in this section’s video. Toss a soft ball at selected pupils, and ask them to respond to different greetings or farewells.
Question and answer
Children reply to the question “Hallo! Wie geht's?”.
M
DVD MARKERS
1. Boat trip up the River Rhine 2. Lorelei cartoon - introducing new words 3. Visiting friends 4. Song - reinforcing new words 5. Question & answer - language in context 6. Written words Use the skip key on your remote control
Scene from film 3: "Danke, gut!"
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E a r l y S t a r t G e r m a n Pa c k 1 If a pupil is obviously not sure how to reply, you (or the puppet) can help by asking “Gut?” or "Sehr gut?" as a way of giving the child the answer. The child can then echo it back to you.
2. Watch the film ❑ Watch film 3: “Wie geht's?” for the first time. Since the written word will be introduced later, stop before the words are shown on-screen.
❑ Invite a confident pupil to come in through the door, to greet you and ask how you are: “Hallo! Wie geht's?” You reply “Danke, gut! Und dir?” The pupil replies, e.g. “Es geht!”. You can then say "Tschüs!" or "Auf Wiedersehen!" - and the child says "Tschüs!" too and goes back to his/her seat. Repeat this with several more pupils so that everyone gets the idea of how to reciprocate the question using “Und dir?” Alternatively, you could let pupils take it in turns to make the puppet ask “Hallo! Wie geht's?” and reply to the question “Und dir?”
3. Get used to the sounds ❑ Echoing: Show or draw a “smiley face” on the board and say “Danke, gut!”. Ask the children to echo the words; pay particular attention to how they say the “key sounds”. Now draw a face with a huge smile and say “Sehr gut, danke!”. Next, draw a face with a straight line for a mouth and say "Es geht!". Finally, draw a sad or grumpy face and say “Nicht so gut!” The children echo the words and your intonation as you say each phrase.
4. Respond with understanding ❑ Have a puppet who is supposed to speak only German. Greet him: “Hallo! Wie geht's?”
❑ Ask pupils to move round the room. They should greet each other, ask how they are and say goodbye as they move on to talk to someone else. Join in yourself so you can help the less confident children. To make this into a game, encourage pupils to talk to as many different people as they can in the time allowed. You could also add variety to the way you greet the children. For example, call across the room to a pupil as if you have not seen her for a long time, e.g. “Emily! Hallo! Wie geht's?”
The puppet replies “Gut, danke!”, and greets the class: “Hallo! Wie geht's?” You point to the first “smiley” face. Children reply “Gut, danke!”. Repeat this pointing to each of the different faces. (see “Making puppets” in CROSS-
❑ A variation on the previous activity is to play the game using music. You could use any authentic German music or the “Hallo! Wie geht's?” song on the Audio CD. Pupils move around the room as the music plays. When the music stops, they turn to the nearest person and greet each other “Hallo! Wie geht's?” etc. When the music starts again, they move on to greet someone else.
CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES)
Pupils may also find that they remember the replies better if they associate a particular physical response to each phrase: e.g.: - thumbs up for "Gut!"; - thumbs up higher for "Sehr gut!"; - hold hands level for "Es geht!"; - thumbs down for "Nicht so gut!".
Wie geht's? ❑ Activity sheet Give out copies of this chapter's Activity Sheet. You call out different responses to the question ”Wie geht's?”. Ask pupils to draw appropriate expressions on the blank faces. This activity is also on the interactive e-CD.
❑ You move around the room, greeting individuals “Hallo! Wie geht's?” The child replies, “Es geht!”, “Danke, gut!”, "Sehr gut!" or “Nicht so gut!” - whichever s/he prefers. 34
1.3 Wie geht's? CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Inter-cultural understanding
❑ Classroom routines: use “Hallo! Wie geht's?” whenever you meet individual children around the school. You could also make a habit of greeting the children in this way at the beginning of the school day.
Having practised some of the language presented in the video, this is a good time to talk with pupils about asking people, “How are you?” when you meet them. ■ Talk about how they, and people in your community, ask after each other. ■ Ask your German twin school what phrases they commonly use. ■ Discuss what children have noticed about Germany in the films they have seen so far, both similarities and differences.
❑ Classroom routines: During the course of virtually any lesson you can ask “Wie geht's?” when you are moving round the room looking to see how pupils are coping. ❑ Art and design: making puppets Some children will find it easier to talk through a puppet rather than to “perform” themselves. Pupils can design and make their own puppets, and use them for practising conversations in the foreign language right from the early stages.
Look again at sounds ❑ Play “Listen to the sounds” from Ch. 1.2 To play this game again, you need to agree gestures for each of the typical German sounds children have now met: the “ ”(w) sound in “wie” and "Wiedersehen"; the “ ”(ch) in "nicht" and " " from "gut" and "Guten Tag!". You can repeat words as often as you like. Pupils can also make the appropriate gesture when they hear one of the typical sounds. Show film 3 again, and ask pupils to make gestures as they echo the words.
5. Introduce the written word The final part of the film repeats the Lorelei cartoon with the written words superimposed on the pictures. Having practised saying and hearing the words, children are ready to start matching sound to print. ❑ Introduce the written words by showing film 3: “Wie geht's?” again, including the final part.
Old socks can be a good basis for a simple puppet. Steer children away from designing puppets which represent German stereotypes. Your puppets can, of course, only understand German! You can give each a personality: one could be “naughty”, always getting into trouble; another could be “grumpy” or “shy”. ❑ Geography and history Using “talking points 2” as a starting point, the class could find out about castles and river trade on the Rhine, and draw pictures to illustrate their findings. You could choose the River Rhine as the focus for a river study in geography. Ask children to make an illustrated display about the Rhine using the terms: source, tributary, estuary, delta, rapids, canal, gorge, flood.
❑ To practise linking the sounds with the written word, make flashcards or an OHP transparency of the words: “gut”, “sehr gut”, "es geht" and “nicht so gut”. Toss a soft ball to a pupil, ask “Wie geht's?”, and indicate the reply they should say. Gently remind them of the correct pronunciation if necessary. Repeat with other pupils.
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E a r l y S t a r t G e r m a n Pa c k 1 HOW GERMAN WORKS 2: Replying to “Wie geht’s?”
Talking point 1
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES The legend of the Lorelei
schlecht
The cartoon in film 3: "Wie geht's?" is a comical version of the legend of the Lorelei, a mythical siren. She sat on a rock overlooking a very dangerous stretch of the River Rhine, and sang beautiful songs to passing sailors that lured them to their deaths on the rocks. This river nymph was a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine after she had been jilted by her faithless lover. The film shows a tourist boat sailing up the Rhine Gorge between Mainz and Koblenz. You can see that this part of the river is very fast and dangerous, with steep cliffs on either The Lorelei statue looks over side (see “talking the River Rhine today. point 2” for more about the River Rhine). Heinrich Heine wrote a poem about the legend in 1801 (he maybe even invented the story - see "Famous Germans" in chapter 1.4). The poem and its accompanying music (which you hear in the film during the cartoon) attracted European tourists to see the spot, which is marked with a statue.
dreadful/really bad If you are confident with your German, you may like to use this additional phrase which can easily be included in many of the activities outlined in this chapter. Audio CD Track 27
When someone asks “How are you?”, it is polite to be cheerful! The most frequently used reply is “gut, danke!” or “sehr gut!”. You can say “danke” (thanks) first. “Es geht” means you are OK (“so-so”). “Nicht so gut” tends to be used only when you feel bad, and things are awful. CLASSROOM INTERACTION
You can use “Wie geht's?” to ask how pupils are getting on with a task. They would reply “Nicht so gut!” if the task is not going well. You can use "gut" and “sehr gut” to praise a pupil or the whole class if they have done something really well. Chapter 1.17 and the film: “Im Klassenraum” suggest more classroom language for teachers and how you might introduce it. AUDIO CD for Teachers
You can hear the pronunciation of all the words and phrases presented in this chapter.
SONG: “Hallo! Wie geht's?”
C Hal
Em -
lo!
Dm Sehr
Wie
F
geht's?
Dan
C gut,
dan
F -
ke!
C -
ke,
gut!
G
Und
dir?
C
Tschüs! Auf Wie-der - sehen!
Audio CD Tracks: 5-song 6-karaoke 36
1.3 Wie geht's? of the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar built a bridge across the Rhine, which formed the boundary of Roman Gaul. Roman forts along the western bank grew into cities like Basel in Switzerland; Strasbourg in France; and Köln, Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz in Germany. The Romans retreated in the 5th century AD, but left behind the habit of wine-growing along the sunny slopes of the Rhine valley.
Inter-cultural understanding Do you know any other statues? Many towns have placed a statue in a prominent place: representing the story of a famous real person or a legend like the Lorelei: Coventry has a statue of Lady Godiva; Peter Pan is in Hyde Park in central London; King Alfred the Great in Winchester and Wantage; New York has the Statue of Liberty; Copenhagen, the Little Mermaid. ■ Talk about legends associated with people and places in your community. What statues are there in your area? ■ Talk about children’s reactions to a statue they know. Is it good to have statues? ■ Choose a legend that would make a good statue for your community - it could be a real or imaginary story. ● Children could design a statue by drawing it, or making a maquette. ● Where would they place the statue to improve the local environment?
Navigating the Rhine In the Middle Ages the Rhine was an important trade route, because the roads were so bad. Ships from the North Sea could reach as far as Köln. The film shows the Rhine rushing through a spectacular 90m deep gorge through the hills between Köln and Mainz.
Talking point 2 The River Rhine
Modern barge going down the Rhine Gorge.
The River Rhine is one of the longest in the world, about 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), and definitely the busiest river in Europe. The main river flows through Germany, bringing huge volumes of water down from the Alpine mountains in Switzerland. Its muddy low-lying delta makes up two-fifths of the Netherlands. Much lies below sea level, and has been reclaimed from the North Sea by building dykes.
A smaller barge could go upstream, hauled by horses or men pulling on a rope. The captain needed the help of a local pilot who knew all the rocks, sandbanks and dangerous currents.
Rhine castles Local princes built castles by the river, and offered to “protect” the ships and their valuable cargoes from pirates and robbers - if they paid a toll. They might hang an iron chain across the river, or fire a warning shot with their cannon. The castles grew very rich at the expense of the traders. Some provided a pilot; a quay to tie up for the night and buy food and water; buoys to mark the river’s obstacles. Today tourists come to cruise along the “romantic” Rhine, and admire the castle ruins.
An international border Throughout history, this big river made a natural boundary between countries. Today the upper river separates Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. Between Lake Constance and Basel, it is the border between Germany and Switzerland. It then forms the present frontier between France and Germany.
The river today The invention of steam engines made it easier for ships to go upstream against the current. Gradually the river was made safer: dangerous rocks and rapids were tamed with explosives;
Romans Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Rhine and Danube (“Donau”) rivers formed the northern boundary 37
E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1
D N OR
OSTSEE
SEE
The Lorelei rock
Hamburg
WES ER
Bremen
Netherlands
Berlin
Rotterdam ELBE
IN RHE
Germany Leipzig
KĂśln
Castles on the Rhine
Koblenz IN MA
EL OS Mainz M
Strasbourg
N
EC
R KA
RH
EIN
France
MAIN
DO
NA
U
MĂźnchen DONAU
Basle
Lake Constance
Switzerland
Austria
Liechtenstein upstream towards Switzerland the twisting river was straightened with canals and dams. But there can still be destructive floods. Near the mouth of the river, Rotterdam became the biggest seaport in Europe. Here giant oceangoing ships enter the river estuary bringing oil and other imports that go all over Europe.
Although much freight now travels by lorry on motorways, the river is still busy. Many of the Rhine's tributaries have been made into canals, and link it with other rivers making it part of a European waterway system. Barges can head for the Danube, and go east to the Black Sea; or go south to the Mediterranean via the Rhone. 38
Wie geht’s?
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Š 2005 Early Start Languages